Dunkirk and Boulogne-sur-Mer allow “non-essential” shops to be sold in the street

The mayors of Dunkirk and Boulogne-sur-Mer announced on Friday March 23 that they will authorize shops on Saturday “non-essential” to sell their products outdoors, despite local confinement. This measure should make it possible to maintain equal treatment between traders. “Since the entry into force of the new measures aimed at combating Covid-19, sedentary traders categorized as ‘non-essential’ must face a distortion of competition. Indeed, itinerant traders can work, especially in the markets “, explains the municipality of Dunkirk in a press release.

“Following discussions with Dunkirk traders, [le maire DVG] Patrice Vergriete has decided to issue a decree allowing them to also settle in public spaces, in consultation with the city services for the proper organization “, she continues. Traders will be allowed “to occupy the sidewalk (…) on condition of leaving a one-meter corridor reserved for pedestrian traffic and respecting social distancing”, until April 17.

The PS mayor of Boulogne-sur-Mer, Frédéric Cuviller, then announced that he had “took the decision to allow the installation of goods outside by decrees authorizing the occupation of the public domain, in order to support [les] local traders who have requested it. “” Occupation of the public domain is, of course, granted free of charge and can begin tomorrow Saturday. Traders who wish to do so are invited to contact the town hall, he said in a message posted on his Facebook page. With this measure, I want to bring consistency to a national system that is difficult to understand and remove a major contradiction, which penalized sedentary businesses. “ The prefectures of Nord and Pas-de-Calais could not be contacted immediately to react.